The manga fans of BNP are fans of legendary horror mangaka Junji Ito; whether it be reading selected stories like that of Shiver or more autobiographical but still creepy tales from the creator that hit closer to home by way of his pets via Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu. The animated adaptation of perhaps one of his most beloved collections of macabre tales, Uzamaki is finally making its arrival at the end of this month in style!
What Do We Know So Far?
The official synopsis for the series:
“Let’s leave this town together,” asks Shuichi Saito, a former classmate of Kirie Goshima, a high school girl who was born and grew up in Kurouzu-cho. Everything from a strange whirlwind, billowing smoke from the crematorium, and the residents are turning into spirals. People’s eyes spin in whirls, a tongue spirals, and the bodies twist unnaturally. In an attempt to escape the curse of the spirals, Kirie decides to flee from Kurouzu-cho, but can she get away from this turmoil?
Uzumaki was initially going to release in 2020, yet production delays kept this hotly anticipated adaptation just out of reach of fans everywhere. As part of the recent San Diego Comic-Con festivities, Adult Swim revealed a sneak peek of Uzumaki, the upcoming animated series adaptation of Junji Ito’s supernatural horror manga of the same name. As reported by Animation News Network, we know that Adult Swim produces in partnership with Production IG USA, with Jason DeMarco executive producing. We also know that music for the series is composed by Colin Stetson, thanks to information in the caption of the official Adult Swim trailer that arrived on YouTube this week.
Uzumaki will finally premiere September 28 at 12:30am during the Adult Swim’s Toonami block, with new episodes airing weekly in Japanese with English subtitles. Both the Japanese and English dub versions will be available to stream the next day on Max. English-language encore airings will debut every Thursday at 12:30am beginning October 3.
Fan Expectation
This is a long awaited fan affair–since the series was stuck in limbo. Some fans even (hopefully) predicting that the Uzumaki Anime might even break the “Junji Ito Adaptation Curse.” As reported by Gizmodo (Thanks Isaiah!) :
“Famously, Uzumaki was initially slated to release on Toonami in 2020 before it spiraled into three delays. At the time, Production I.G. issued a statement on the anime’s official X/Twitter page saying it required more time to ensure the anime’s distinct black-and-white CG style recreated “the quality of the intricate designs and detailed line work” of Ito’s manga.”
Ito’s Uzumaki was the first of his manga that I ever read, I actually still have my copy-the pages yellowed with age! This Eisner nominated work with terror in the tradition of The Ring really stands the test of time with its harrowing stories with all the grotesque reveals and little horrors to swallow with each new development in the cursed town of Kurouzu-cho.
The hypnotic secret shape of the world that soon starts to manifest into madness for everyone has been on my anime wishlist/bucket list to watch, and I am so happy to finally be able to watch it come September 28, 2024. The fact that the original black and white color scheme of the original manga will be maintained and built upon more gives me hope that this adaptation will serve as one that not only pays homage to the source material bit also bring new artistic flair to this animated version is enough to cheer about.
As a bonus: I love this behind the scenes clip about the anime adaptation on the Adult Swim website that includes the creator and mangaka Ito, along with the director of the anime and one of the writers, which you can view here.
Based on Junji Ito’s spine-tingling manga comes the all-new limited series Uzumaki. Japanese language premieres September 28 at 12:30 on Toonami. Next day on Max.
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